The end of the summer......

Believe it or not, I am just about done with my first week of school; we started on Monday with meetings and such...and freshmen came Wednesday...and the upperclassmen started today. What an exhausting week the first week of school is--one of my least fave weeks of the school year...not at all because I have to back to school, because I love getting back into the classroom...but, rather, because of all the 'beginning of the year' stuff that is so rote and exhausting and monotonous...

I am sure we still have several weeks of summer-like weather left, but, to me, the summer is over, because I no longer can be home each day with my kids (and my wife twice per week). This is tough for me actually; I get so used to being with the kids each day--being a 'stay at home dad' in the summer is an exhausting blast and I will miss it. If I could be so bold and frank, I would argue that 'dads' dont get thought of often as 'emotional' beings (like moms) who love being with their children all the time. From my point of view, this is totally wrong. Just another cultural misconception I guess. Pop culture portrays dads, quite often, unfairly. Oh well. 

No picture, for me, serves as a better metaphor for my summer with Callum and Maira than the one below: 

Simple. Full of light. Green. Outside. Hopeful. Wishing. No distraction. Intense. I love this picture.

I took this selfie last week or so with the kids...I will miss being with them each day; Callum just finished day 2 of kindergarten and Maira is back to Grenda's at daycare full time...she will start pre school next year!

CALLUM STARTED KINDERGARTEN!!! Where the hell did the time go?? Oh my goodness. More to come on this. His first day was good and exhausting. He said, and I quote, 'I loved it......kind of.' He is a little boy who loves structure and order...he LOVED being in the classroom with his teacher and classmates...he DID NOT like recess, because he said it was too crowded and all the swings and slides were taken....he said he didnt know what to do and it was boring (he is a shy, sensitive little guy). Also, he does not like the bus ride home....and I kind of dont blame him. We live less than a mile from the school, yet he has about a forty five minute ride home! I may pick him up sometimes...but it would be hard because I cannot leave that early because I am almost late in the morning as it is as I bring Maira to daycare....complicated situaish...

Last night, as expected, he was crying and saying how he hated school and school was the stupidest thing ever (haha). His big complaint was how it was 'too long,' even though I told him that, all told, it was probably two hours LESS than the time he spent at daycare/Grenda's. But, you cannot convince a six year old who is stuck in his ways...he is like an old Jewish retired glazier Papa I know....

Today was better; we did some 'counseling' with him last night and tried to get him to look at things differently...I think some of it may have worked because we had no probs tonight. For recess, he brought a book about whales and sat alone at a picnic table and read because, in his words, 'It gives me a nice break from everyone and is nice and relaxing..." Okay Amanda.

His school, by the way, like I mentioned, is less than a mile away from home. A nice view across the street--the town green where there are beautiful trees and benches and fields...every Friday in the summer there was a concert there...if you blow up the picture you can see, over on the far right, our great library!

This is his school; it was the original Lawrence High School way back in the 20s or 30s or something....I think this was the school used in the movie A CHRISTMAS STORY...haha. Now, it is only used for preschool programs and kindergarten...a beautiful old building....

And now we are back into the swing of things....and summer rides off into the sunset, I guess all that is left to say is "Happy Trails Callum and Maira.... until next June........"

THINGS I THINK ABOUT WHILE RUNNING

On a six miler the other afternoon, here is what went through my mind. 

1. How I have gone through four years of serious running and cycling--in all four seasons--and not been seriously injured or killed by drivers is nothing short of a miracle. I wear bright colors and have flashing lights....drivers just do not expect to see people, outside, exercising in central Maine. I am in the minority, and if that sounds jerky, then I am sorry. I havent written this before, but I have been hit by a car two times while running (both times I was okay for the most part and both times it was ONE THOUSAND PERCENT the driver's fault). Folks dont expect to see people out. 

2. I ran by a former tanning parlor that is now out of business and will be replaced by a 'Cigarette Shopper" store and laughed out loud at the appropriateness of this on two levels. One, the store USED to kill people from the outside in...but now it will kill people from the inside out. And, two, the same people who went to this tanning place will still go there on the regular...but just for a different purpose...ya know what I mean? I mean, it was one of their every-other-day stops anyway, most likely.

3. This whole stupid natural gas pipeline stupidity....so let me get this straight: We are using an exorbitant amount of fossil fuels (diesel gas for machinery...petroleum based products for asphalt...electricity out of control) and contributing IMMENSELY to greenhouse gases (by having literally thousands of cars in Maine, daily,  sit and idle for sometimes five minutes at a time while flaggers have them stopped) JUST SO we can finish up all this construction so that we can rape the earth of yet another non-renewable resource? Kind of like using your visa to pay your mastercard, aint it?

4. I thought about the silliness and hypocrisy and flagrant, shameless marketing of Mikes Hard Iced Tea stuff...now the bottles (ya know...the ones that contain malt liquor) all come in 'pink' and have ribbons on them to 'support' breast cancer awareness and research. I dont even know where to start. In other news, all Marlboro cigarette products now donate some of their profits to cirrhosis awareness and research....do you see what I mean? What a shameless marketing gimmick and example of dramatic irony--their product (like all alcohol) can contribute to caussssssssssssing cancer. 

5. Near the end of my run, a really awesome DIRE STRAITS track came on my iPod, and I was rocking out to a Mark Knophler solo, and I got to wondering: How come, so often, when rock guitarists solo, do they simultaneously 'mouth' strange shapes and indiscernible words that are incongruent with the guitar stuff they are doing? Do you know what I mean here? Many of them do it. 

Then I finished my run. 

Here are some pics

Dressing up like "ElfOnTheShelf" and 'Santa' in the middle of August....sure....

We took a daytrip to Camden last week.....one of our favorite places...LOVE it there.....and so do my mom and dad...it is a special place to me because it is one of the few places I have been with both of them, separately, in Maine

Callum was doing some legos with Grampy last week. It was an RV that Michelle, Steve, and Emma gave him for his birthday...

Devil's Chair hike...Devil's Chair is a rock and ice climbing destination in the Quarry Road area...the kids loved it...Quarry Road is such an awesome place....

BUS RUN AND KEMISHES....

Callum had his practice trial bus run for school....the bus comes to the house..picks him up...brings him to school...explains all the bus rules and such...and then drops him back off at home. The parents are asked to come along for the ride, so I went with the little guy, all decked out in his Ninja turtle shirt and his LL Bean SHARK! backpack.....

Coming home after the bus run...I love this picture...I will make this my FB picture since only two people look at this blog anyway....

Brian and Melissa stopped by on their way home from Mt Desert, where they traveled to celebrate their anniversary....so great to see them and so grateful they fit us into their plans!! Brian, before he even got to our house, had already achieve virtual DEITY status with Callum because Brian is a REAL, LIVE, FIREMAN!!!! Brian is the on the department in Bristol, CT...home of ESPN aka 'the Lebron Channel.' Callum and Brian probably spent a good fifteeen minutes playing catch with a green tomato that fell off the vine. Just sayin....

And the wonderful Melissa is always a person we love seeing. She and Amanda talked about running and races and stuff like that. Melissa played tag and hide and seek with the kids while Brian and I caught up and had good conversation....

We went to Maineley Brews for a late lunch and had great burgers and a great beer....the kids played pool and fooseball and danced up on the stage...like they always do....it was a wonderful afternoon!

Melissa, just like Brian, had achieved Deity status with Maira....because Melissa is a DANCER....and Maira idolizes dancers...haha

After lunch we made our way over to MadeInMaine Shop because Melissa was looking for a sweatshirt for her mom...we poked around in the store, and then the Kemishes began their way back to CT. Again, so great to see them.

Tomorrow if the first day of school for me, yo!

END OF A SERIES....

First of all, here is Lupine, judging all of you....

The Quarry Road Summer Race series was one of our favorite parts of the summer...with the exception of the race on the night before NJ and the week we were in Lubec, we went to every race and ran. The kids ran all the funruns and I did the series schedule of 3ks, 5ks, and 8ks. The final race of the series was the 8k, which I have mentioned many times before as the most difficult race I have ever run. Uphills like crazy. Switchbacks. Rocks. Mud. Narrow trails. More switchbacks. More uphills. Just a very psychological race. At any rate, I was pretty nervous for the final race, but I set my personal record at it...I dont know what it was, but I just felt great and I felt like I was actually 'racing.' It was nice....haha. Here is me post-race...

The guy in the grey shirt is a man named Mark, and he (and another girl named Jayne) were at pretty much each race...it is funny how you get talking to people each week, and this was true for me with many folks because you end up sort of running 'together' in packs of people who are comparable to your running speed. Mark was one of these people (and was Jayne) and each week it seemed Mark and I would sort of play cat and mouse with each other....but during this race, I made a pretty ambitious 'move' on one of the hills, and it paid off...I finished quite before he did. What is funny, also, about this is his comment at the end of the race (this will be funnier if you know me at all ....and you know all my idiosyncrasies...of which there are hundreds...and how I tend to fiddle with things....). Since it was humid and I sweat SO MUCH, I was scratching at my socks...retying my shoes....fiddling with my shorts....scratching my back...etc. He was saying "jeez man...all you were doing was screwing around with yourself, fiddling all over the place...and I still couldnt catch you!" I must have annoyed him like I annoy everyone else in my life with this stuff...
 Also, if you look towards the top of the picture you can see where the trail heads into the woods.....those are where the monster hills are...switchbacks and all....it is used as a championship XC ski course in the winter...they had some Olympic trial race or something here last year...it is pretty intense!

and look Dad....a yurt! This is a recent addition to the recreation area....I think in the winter it is used as a warming hut and a place to drink cocoa and coffee after sledding and skiing and snowshoeing...during the summer, it was where all the registration stuff took place....

The end of the season series...the first in a long list of ways you know that summer is nearly over......

Beer

Most of this blog is about beer. Oh well. I like beer. It is good for you. 

A couple of weeks ago I made my way down to Portland to see my friend Dunny, from college. We went to this place in the old Port called Novare Res (it means "we start a revolution") and the place made me feel absolutely incompetent as a beer fan. The menu, for example, just for BEER, was about nine pages long. This was one section of the menu in particular...blow the picture up to see the crazy prices of some of these beers!! They had about 20 beers on tap, but literally HUNDREDS of bottled beers from all over the world....and some from Maine that I have never even heard of. Amazing place....

Last week, also, I had my final trail race of the Quarry Road Summer Race Series--it ended with the MOAR (Mother of all races) the 8K, which is five miles of virtually ALL uphill terrain...a ridiculous race. So, after, since there was no one home, I went over to Mainely Brews for a fantastic fish sandwich and a DropDeadRed ale (my fave beer they make). Former student (and currently KICKING BUTT at UNH) Sydney was there--she waitressed there this summer, and that particular night was her final shift, as she was leaving a few days later for Budapest, Hungary for a semester abroad. I sidled right up next to her at the bar and we had some good laughs and talked about her study abroad trip. THEN, a true classic, Conner Bourgoine showed up, cuz he is creepy like that, and we had a great, impromptu little meetup (several former students were there that night because Camille, a French exchange student I had a couple of years ago, is back in the states to study at Northeastern for a year).

#littlehat (For Jason, when he gets back from his 43rd vacatzin of the summer.....).

Good old Conner....it is hard to believe that both Syd and Conner are going to be JUNIORS in college this year! Conner continues to impress me with his success at Wheaton on the CrossCountry team there....he is doing amazingly well....and he is majoring in English!!

One of my favorite things to do this summer.... sit outside on the deck....have a drink...read a book under the umbrella....and listen to either Maine Public Radio or WERU (Blue Hill Community Radio....the best music on earth). I hope to sit on the deck all throughout the fall and early winter....I cant wait for winter!! Going to dip down in the low 40s tonight!! And some of the leaves are already turning!! Early fall! Summer sucks!! YEAY!!!

Paddling with Tom.....

Still trying to catch up on some posts.....

But last week (actually, almost exactly a week ago) when the kids and Sally were in NJ, I got together with my buddy Tom one morning (last Friday) and we paddled a neat section of the Kennebec--it was about five miles or so, and we put in just below the Shawmut dam and landed right at the town landing down by the police station....for something so nearby, it truly is a gem of a paddle with some nice rips, some quick water, beautiful views of dairy farms and cows and horses, and plenty of (here, I will say it) birds. I hate birds. But whatever. Haha. Also, the smallmouth bass in this section of the river are UNREAL and you can see them jumping to catch bugs and such. Furthermore, there are several little islands (and some large islands) in this section of the river, and many rocky crags built by loggers back in the log driving days, so the river drivers could stand on them and push the logs down the river when they got jammed up....if anyone would like to go, I would love to take you...it is a gem of a paddle

We saw these big black birds on one of the rocks sticking out of the river....maybe they are cormorants? swans? Penguins? IDK guy. Who knows. Who cares. They are birds. But some people like birds, so there ya go. 

Tom, in a reflective moment as we pass along Mill Island (there used to be a .....wait for it....MILL on this island a hundred years ago....now it is a beautiful park with a playground and fields and trails and such...a very nice place that the kids enjoy...). But I like how we paddle under some railroad trestles (and the bridge for Rt 95!)

After the paddle I made my way back to Tom's house to meet up with the kids and Katie...Jake and Meg each had a friend over, so I was "Tom's friend" that HE had over (but I was Katie's friend too! haha). I had a BLAST and we swam in the pool, played a version of Marco Polo called SILENCE that Jake taught us, hung out in the hot tub, and had, quite possibly, the best pizza I have ever had...it was from Michelina's Apizza in Waterville, and the owners are from CT and they make very authentic coal fired oven pizza. You do not see pictured the BACON AND CLAM masterpiece, which was heaven, but you do see, on the left, a chicken curry pizza next to a Hawaiian pizza. Unreal how good this pizza was. And also, Katie made a blueberry pie that was so good that I had two pieces (those who know me know I NEVER eat dessert....haha)

Another picture of Tom on our paddle in our wonderfully reliable Old Town Camper canoe....one of the best purchases we ever made...we've had the boat for ten years!

And, finally, a typical day's harvest at the GoldsmithGarden....I have cut back and harvested all the lettuce and greens, and now it is time to plant more. Still have many cucumbers coming in...I HOPE our tomatoes start stepping it up a bit!!

Listening to the radio....

I've been listening to the radio a lot this week....with the exception of having the tv on when I watched a movie the other night, I dont think I have had it on once since everyone left. I (and Amanda is this way too) am just a huge radio person....and I dont even mean 'pandora' or playlists or spotify.... I mean actual, real, what they call 'surface' radio. I love it. Mostly NPR is on all the time--especially on the weekend when you dont have to listen to all the news stuff exclusively and they have great programs like WorldCafe and PraireHomeCompanion, etc. Today, Sunday, for example, it has been on virtually all day....

I feel like I grew up around 'radio people' and it was passed on to me somehow. I have such vivid memories of going someplace very early in the morning--to work with him in Boston...deep sea fishing where we had to get an early start...--and listening to the famous WBZ Radio 1030 hosted by the legendary Dave Maynard; my dad ALWAYS had this on. And, I remember very well sleeping over my Nana Courtney's house; Nana was always an extremely early riser (you had to get up early to start the SANKA, right??) and she would listen to WHDH (which I dont think exists any longer) and the Claprood and Whitley program. And then there was my mom always listening to Loren and Wally on WVBF/WKLB/WROR as they bounced around from station in the 90s....radio has just always been alive in my life, and I prefer it to TV any day, any time. In fact, later, if I can pickles, I will probably listen to a podcast of TheNewsFromLakeWobegone with Garrison Keillor OR the great music on Blue Hill Community Radio WERU--which, if you live in Maine, and have not streamed on your computer or phone thingy, you are sorely missing out on probably the best music in Maine!

Amanda keeps texting me pictures of all the fun she and the kids are having. But, being a techMoron--and having a very frustrating android--I cannot figure out how to get those pics into my photo gallery and thus onto my computer. Hopefully she can send them to me so I can post them on here. But they are having a blast...riding bikes, driving in Aunt June's latest convertible, going to the shore, and more!

Here is what has been up lately.....

The day before they left we went to breakfast at 'our place' TheFlatlanda....we love it...and, in homage to our beloved friend Jawn, we had our picture taken by the license plate that bears both his state and his status in life.....

I went out to Maineley Brews to watch some of the Pats preseason last Thursday and then I went over to TheLastUnicorn, the restaurant our friends Fred and Amy own, so I could have a beer and say hi. Amy, below, was bartending, and Sasha was waitressing....always great to see friends...

We decided to give the breezeway a little color....it used to be white, but we painted it green (PineGreen, to be exact). It gives the house some pop as they say.....but I put the second coat on when it finally stopped raining, and here is the front......

and here is the back....and, if you look really hard, you can see Lupine curled up in the green Adirondack chair....

 And, finally, I had a stupendous day the other day hanging out with my buddy Tom--and then his whole family back at his place. I will write more about this next time....but here is just a quick picture of a wonderful section of the Kennebec we paddled that morning....

Well, the kids and Amanda left on Wednesday morning at about 4:28 in the morning to embark on their New Jersey trip. For a variety of reasons, I could not attend this year, and I will be alone until next Wednesday. Although many would say that this would be GREAT to have the house to myself to be able to do ANYTHING I WANT whenever I want, I have to say that it absolutely sucks and I cannot wait for them to come back. I am no good on my own--that is for sure. I have a list of things I want to get done this week--put a second coat on the breezeway outside....waterseal the deck....install the mailbox by the front light post...landscaping stuff, etc. But I also want to do some fun stuff too...I want to get out on the canoe to fish....I would love to get to hang out with my friends like Tom and Brad and Dave.....I want to read books and go for long bike rides, etc.

The kids are having a blast thus far--today Callum and Maira got to ride in Aunt June's convertible and they have been enjoying the dogs of June and Michelle who have a Newfie and Burmese Mtn dog, respectively.

Here we are almost in the middle of August and I am using this week to start to focus on what back to school will look like this year....I have resigned as XC coach (I will still volunteer) because of parental commitments like picking Callum up from school, doing karate and dance lessons, attending soccer practices, and more. Not doing the entire preseason with the team will be strange for sure....although next week I will help fill in some days....

Tonight I went over to Maineley Brews to try to watch the first Pats preseason game...but it was trivia night and a MADHOUSE. I went to the Last Unicorn--I love the bar there--and had a couple of drinks and got to catch up with Amy (who was bartending) and Sasha (who was waitressing). Soon it is off to bed for me...I sleep AWFULLY when no one is home....AWFULLY.

Here is what has been going on.....

While Amanda and her friends hiked around Baxter State Park the other day (Amanda, you need to get me pics so we can post about this!!!) I had the kids for a couple of days myself, and I took them to Lake George to swim and have fun.....we went in the 'other' entrance this time, because it has a sandier beach and the kids love that....the other side has more nooks and crannies, and I like that...but that is fine.....but this is a GORGEOUS lake!

The kids were playing with the little boy wearing the red life jacket...they were playing dump trucks and helicopters (Callum packs his backpack with stuff to bring EVERYWHERE he goes....) and they were making roads and 'concrete' and having a blast. They played with that boy for a while!!

On this side of the park there are many hills and dales and secluded little spots for picnics or whatever. The kids loved climbing up this hill and then ROLLING down the hill....they pretended they were JACK and ANNIE, who are the two main characters of their (sometimes) beloved series of books: THE MAGIC TREEHOUSE.....

And look what came in the mail today!!! WOO HOO. When I texted this picture to CS today and then read it to him over the phone he started jumping for joy and he got really excited....that is good!!

Into August!

August, I think, goes by faster than any month of the whole year. Crazy month. Summer vacation is almost over! And right as I was finally over the 'transition' of school-to-summer....haha...#firstworldproblems....

Amanda has been really working on her sewing lately, at night, after the kids are in bed and she has run out of things to do on Facebook and her cell phone (haha). She just finished this beautiful quilted table runner; she took a class on it a couple of months ago. Callum went with her to the fabric store some time back, and he picked out all the fabric and helped design the color sequence....

We've been getting together with friends and spending as much time as we can outside. It seems like each morning the kids and I have a routine--get up, watch CuriousGeorge, eat some blueberry (it HAS to be blueberry) Greek Yogurt, get dressed, go outside, ride bikes from our driveway around the corner to Cindy's driveway and back....and then repeat. Sometimes there are bubbles mixed in there a bit...

We had the Carltons over for dinner the other night, and, whenever I/we sit out back on the deck or whatever, the kids always get out their scooters and bikes and ride up and down Cindy and Dana's driveway. Cindy and Dana are great; plus, they are out to their cabin on China Lake all summer. Below, Hannah and Emily play the game "telephone" with Callum while Maira does her "bike lessons," as she calls them....

Been trying to get out fishing whenever I can--and I have been trying to get the kids really engaged in it! I have such fond memories of my dad and grandfather always taking me fishing, and I really want to pass it down. It is definitely something I have put off too long, but now I try to get out with the kids all the time--I think it is a good way to teach patience and following directions....and respecting nature. Plus, it is neat to go check out a variety of places. Below, Callum and I try out the town boat launch on the Kennebec River (right behind the police station). The water moves pretty quick here though, so we didnt have much luck. A guy walking his huge chocolate lab came down to talk to us, and he gave us a few other spots to try on the river that would be great for kids....so we went to one...but also had no luck....but we DID have luck this past Saturday....Callum and Maira caught a bunch of little, fun fish, and I will post about it later. You cannot tell from this picture, but Callum was actually casting the spin-caster all by himself; he cannot cast it FAR....but he gets the hang of the mechanics!! Smart kid.

DaftPunk goes for a bike ride.....or, Hannah and Callum ditch their bike helmets for two of our snowmobile digs and prepare to journey to faraway places....

A rare picture of Amanda and her thoughtless, cruel, belligerent husband.....isnt Amanda looking great??

As I write this, Sally is up at Baxter State Park...she left this afternoon....with Beth, Lisa, Pete, and another woman....some of them are going to do Kathadin tomorrow.....Amanda and Beth are gonna meander around the Chimney Pond area...cannot wait to see her pics and hear her stories! Be safe Amanda!!